The psychological benefits of cooperative place-making: a mixed methods analyses of co-design workshops

Abstract

In a study aiming to establish the intrinsic value of involvement in a co-design, place-making workshop, we engaged participants in a vision-led development of the grounds and immediate parkland setting of a run-down Grade II listed Mansion House in South Liverpool. Two groups of volunteers engaged in 6 × 90-min co-design workshop sessions spaced equally over 6 weeks, forming part of a cross-over design that compared the intrinsic value and wellbeing benefits of shared reading to place-making. The sessions aimed to develop place-making confidence, place-appraisal skills and design-thinking in the participants and to propose aims, objectives and a vision that supported the ethos of the social enterprise that was developing the property. Data collected using post-it notes, limited voice recording and subsequent interview was qualitatively analysed and considered alongside quantitative analysis using standardised and bespoke realistic procedures. The findings suggest that the workshop activities supported changes to psychological and community wellbeing by enhancing both a sense of personal growth and a collective sense of place-related optimism. We therefore assert that the practice of co-design place-making has potential to develop mental and social capital by reconnecting people to place and communities to neighbourhoods.